The Effects of Concerted Cultivation on Academic Achievement

Anne Lareau (2003) argues that parents' child-rearing practices have a profound effect on academic and later occupational success for children, even holding constant such important factors as gender, race and school effects. She says that social class impacts these child-rearing practices and that middle-class families use a specific type of practice called concerted cultivation. Concerted cultivation involves parents organizing children's daily activities, using reasoning skills in talking with children, and teaching them how to interact with the institutions around them. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988, the current study tests the theoretical validity of concerted cultivation. Results show that concerted cultivation significantly predicts both student GPA and standardized test scores. Amongst the elements of concerted cultivation, parent and student habitus, in the form of expectations, play the largest roles.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology & Anthropology

Year dc:date.available

2007

Author dc:creator

• Redford, Jeremy Brandon

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Jennifer Johnson

• education
• family structure
• social structure
• parenting practices
• social class
• concerted cultivation
• cultural capital
• academic achievement
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1455

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2454